Today is Martin Luther King day and this post has got to do a lot with the legacy of this great leader. In 1968 Mexico Olympics, two athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos staged the most famous protest the games have ever seen. Tommy came 1st and Carlos 3rd in the 200 meter event in what was a very happening year. Tet offensive had failed in Vietnam, Prague Spring saw Czech students challenge Soviet Tanks, Dr. King was assassinated and just before the event, Mexican security forces killed hundreds of protesting students.
Tommy first set the world record and when he and Carlos came on the podium, it was obvious that something was going to happen.
When the U.S. flag began rising up the flagpole and the anthem played, the two men bowed their heads and raised their fists( with black gloves) in a black power salute.Smith and Carlos were wearing wraps around their necks to protest lynching and did not wear shoes to protest poverty. Carlos' Olympic jacket was zipped open, unprecedented in itself, to convey protest for poor treatment of blue collar shift workers. Both were also wearing a batch of OPHR( Olympic Project for Human Rights), an organization of black athletes. Even silver medallist, Peter Norman, seeing the drama unfold ran into the stands and got a batch from one of OPHR's supporters.
The fascinating thing about this whole episode is that 40 years later, there is not a single athlete in American sports who can claim some lasting impression on public mind. No wonder, the recent list of 50 most influential people in sports industry in US does not have a single athlete. Athletes, including Tiger Woods, Kobe, Shaq, Tom Brady hardly inspire people the way some of the past athletes did( including Mohammad Ali who let go his prime years to protest Vietnam). Considering the huge media spotlight modern day athletes enjoy they can, if they want, divert some of that spotlight on some of the big issues around the world. Nothing can restrict them to to the role of "Labor providers for Money" if they don't want to.
Tommy first set the world record and when he and Carlos came on the podium, it was obvious that something was going to happen.
When the U.S. flag began rising up the flagpole and the anthem played, the two men bowed their heads and raised their fists( with black gloves) in a black power salute.Smith and Carlos were wearing wraps around their necks to protest lynching and did not wear shoes to protest poverty. Carlos' Olympic jacket was zipped open, unprecedented in itself, to convey protest for poor treatment of blue collar shift workers. Both were also wearing a batch of OPHR( Olympic Project for Human Rights), an organization of black athletes. Even silver medallist, Peter Norman, seeing the drama unfold ran into the stands and got a batch from one of OPHR's supporters.
The fascinating thing about this whole episode is that 40 years later, there is not a single athlete in American sports who can claim some lasting impression on public mind. No wonder, the recent list of 50 most influential people in sports industry in US does not have a single athlete. Athletes, including Tiger Woods, Kobe, Shaq, Tom Brady hardly inspire people the way some of the past athletes did( including Mohammad Ali who let go his prime years to protest Vietnam). Considering the huge media spotlight modern day athletes enjoy they can, if they want, divert some of that spotlight on some of the big issues around the world. Nothing can restrict them to to the role of "Labor providers for Money" if they don't want to.
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